LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 



ncle 

Cljnstmas 



Uncle Jloaf)'* 



Itona Balrpmplc 

Surtjor of "CCraumerei" 



illustrations 
Jf. C. 



^ Company 
1913 



LIBRARY 



Copyright, 1911, by 
CURTIS PUBLISHING Co. 

Copyright, 1912, by 
McBRiDE, NAST & Co. 



Second Printing, October, 



To C. A. W. 

in grateful recognition 

of an unfailing source of encouragement 

and impartial criticism 



Uncle jjoafj'a Cljristmas 3n*ptratton 




twilight of a Christmas Eve, gray with 
the portent of coming snow, crept slowly over 
the old plantation of Brierwood, softening 
the outlines of a decrepit house still rearing its roof 
in massive dignity and a tumble-down barn flanked 
by barren fields. A quiet melancholy hovered about 
the place as if it brooded over a host of bygone 
Yuletides alive with the shouts of merry negroes and 
the jingle of visiting sleighs Yuletides when the 
snowy dusk had been ushered in to the lowing of 
cattle and the neighing of horses safely housed in 
the old barn. There were no negroes now, no 
blooded stock no fluttering fowls save one belliger 
ent old turkey gobbler fleeing from a white-haired 
darky who tried in vain to drive him to his roost in 
the barn. 

In the library of the old house a man, tall and 
eagle-eyed, peered out beneath bushy white eye 
brows at the fading landscape blurred by the dancing 
forms of the negro and the recalcitrant turkey. He 
watched the chase end with an impertinent gobble 
from the turkey, and, at the sound of a closing 
door in the rear of the house, tapped a bell at 
his side. Footsteps shuffled along the hallway, and 
the old negro, breathless from his chase, entered the 
room. 



TUncle IRoab's Gbrfstmas Uneptratfon 

Colonel Fairfax wheeled with military precision. 
" Uncle Noah," he said sternly, " to-morrow will be 
Christmas." 

The darky nodded and hobbled hurriedly to the 
wood fire, bending over as he poked it to hide the 
look of anxiety in his face. " Laws-a-massy, Massa 
Fairfax," he grumbled in good-natured evasion, 
" yoh'd mos' freeze to deaf, I reckons, 'thout sendin' 
foh me " he coughed, and amended hastily : 
" 'thout sendin' foh one ob de servants to pile up 
dis yere fire." 

The amendment was but one of Uncle Noah's 
many subterfuges to convince himself and his mas 
ter that there had been no changes in the Fairfax 
fortunes since the old days. That he was the last 
of the Colonel's retainers, a wageless, loyal old de 
pendent attending to the manifold tasks of a sole 
domestic, the negro never admitted even to himself. 
That his quaint pretensions, however, were daily 
stimulants to the fierce old Colonel hungrily eating 
his heart out with memories Uncle Noah was well 
aware. So the pitiful little subterfuges, revealing 
the subtle understanding of the two, peopled the old 
house with swarming negroes and the horn of plenty 
to the joy of both. 

But to-day Uncle Noah felt uneasily that the 

10 



"dncle Hoab'0 Cbrietmae Inspiration 

reference to the servants had not bolstered the 
Colonel as it usually did, and the old darky groaned 
inwardly as he added wood to the fire. From the 
corner of his eye he saw that the Colonel had drawn 
himself up to military rigidity, an evidence that the 
old soldier was on his mettle and would brook no 
opposition. 

" Uncle Noah/' he said, fixing a stern eye on the 
old man, " in the Fairfax family there has always 
been a turkey at Christmas." 

There was no suggestion in the darky's affable 
tones of the erratic manner in which his heart was 
beating. "Yes, sah," he agreed, "ofttimes mo' 
than one." 

" Owing to circumstances understood by you and 
myself, but by no one else, there would be no turkey 
this year save that " 

"Y-e-e-s, sah?" Uncle Noah laid a wrinkled 
brown hand upon the nearest chair for support. 

" We have a live turkey in stock," ended the 
Colonel firmly, looking squarely into the trembling 
negro's eyes. 

Uncle Noah's heart gave a convulsive leap. The 
thunderbolt had fallen! The fierce old turkey 
gobbler, solitary tenant of the crazy outbuildings, 
the imperial tyrant upon whom Uncle Noah had 



ii 



tnncle floab'0 Gbrtetmas inspiration 

bestowed the affection of his loyal old heart, had 
been sentenced to death by the highest earthly 
tribunal the old negro recognized. 

"Ise Ise afeard he'll be tough, Colonel Fair 
fax," he quavered. " I I Gord-a-massy, Massa 
Dick, yoh wouldn't kill ol' Job? He's too smart 
foh a bird an' he's done a most powahful sight o' 
runnin', sah; I reckons he's mos' all muscle." 

There was an agonized appeal in the darky's 
voice that cut straight to the Colonel's heart. 
" Uncle Noah," he said kindly, " it can't be helped. 
Job goes for the sake of someone else." 

"Ol' Missus?" 

"Yes. Thank God, Uncle Noah," the Colonel 
laid a gentle hand on the negro's shoulder, " that 
she doesn't know of our er financial crisis " 
his halting utterance showed how distasteful the 
words were to him " save, of course, that we must 
live with economy, as we have for years. Of the 
catastrophe of last fall she is ignorant, and a Fair 
fax Christmas without a turkey would she must 
not know," he finished abruptly. 

The Colonel had spoken with a simple dignity 
and confidence that brought the old negro back 
from the field of sentiment to the barren desert of 
reality. Dimly in his mental chaos stood forth 



12 



"Uncle Tloab'0 Cbrfetmns Inspiration 

three pitiless facts : " Or Missus " was grieving her 
heart out for the son with whom the Colonel had 
quarreled three years before; of this money trou 
ble from which Colonel Fairfax had shielded her 
she must as yet know nothing; and there was no 
turkey for the Christmas dinner. Verily things 
looked dark for the ill-fated Job, roosting in un 
suspecting security in the desolate old barn. With 
bowed head the darky walked slowly toward the 
door. 

" Uncle Noah," the Colonel's tones were incisive, 
" you will kill Job to-night." 

"I mos' forgot, Massa Dick," faltered Uncle 
Noah, " dat supper's ready, sah. Ol' Missus done 
come downstairs jus' foh I chases Job to roost. 
Laws-a-massy, Massa Dick, can't he live till after 
supper ? " 

The Colonel nodded, carefully avoiding the old 
man's troubled eyes, and went to join his wife at 
supper. 

" Christmas Eve, my dear," he announced cheer 
fully as he bent to kiss the sweet, wistful face that 
turned to greet him. " I beg your pardon for 
keeping you waiting. Uncle Noah and I were 
discussing to-morrow's turkey;" he gazed calmly 
at the old negro nervously handling the tea things ; 

13 



TUncIe floab'a Cbrtetmas Inspiration 

" he has selected a large bird and I have been ad 
vising a smaller." 

The Colonel opened his napkin and deftly tucked 
the hole in the end out of sight beneath the table. 
" Now, Uncle Noah, what is there to-night for 
supper ? " 

To Uncle Noah this nightly question had be 
come a sacred institution, a stimulus to imaginative 
powers highly developed in his quaint dialogues 
with the Colonel. He forgot the doomed Job. It 
was Christmas Eve, and his creative gift took fes 
tive wings. 

" Well, sah," he beamed, " we has a little chicken 
gumbo, some fried chicken jus' the right golden 
brown, sah, creamed potatoes, hot biscuits with 
currant jelly er sliced ham and baked potatoes." 

Colonel Fairfax thoughtfully considered the ap 
petizing prospect in accordance with the rules of the 
game. What mattered it that the luscious edibles 
existed only in the brain of the loyal old darky? 
The little pretense gave to each a delightful thrill 
surely an adequate extenuation of the harmless 
diversion. As usual Colonel Fairfax found the 
key to the situation in the closing items of Uncle 
Noah's list. 

" It all sounds delicious, Uncle Noah," he ob- 



Hoab'a Cbtietmaa Inspiration 



served graciously, " but I have a touch of my old 
enemy the dyspepsia to-day. I think I shall have 
sliced ham and baked potatoes. That, I think, will 
do for us both." 

Mrs. Fairfax agreed, her kindly eyes fixed upon 
Uncle Noah's attentive face. 

"And, sah," Uncle Noah began it was Christ 
mas Eve and this game must be perfectly played 
" shall I attend to de distribution of gifts in de 
negroes' quarters, sah ? " 

" Yes," agreed the Colonel, " see that no one is 
slighted!" 

Mrs. Fairfax bowed her wistful face upon her 
hands to hide the blinding tears, and an odd, un 
comfortable silence fell upon the little group. 

At length the Colonel pushed his chair back and 
rose. " Uncle Noah," he said sternly, a suspicious 
brightness gleaming in his eyes, "that turkey of 
yours is making a terrible noise under the window. 
Make him quit gobbling. Patricia, I don't wonder 
he makes you nervous. He's an old renegade ! " 

That the object of the Colonel's wrath had long 
since retired to roost mattered not to his accuser. 
The turkey had developed a convenient habit of 
gobbling under the window whenever emotion 
forced the Colonel to seek a vent in stern com- 



"dnclc Hoab'0 Obrfstmas Unapiration 

mands. Uncle Noah crossed to the window and 
commanded Job to be silent. Mrs. Fairfax, South 
ern gentlewoman and thoroughbred from tip to 
toe, quivered proudly, and, as Uncle Noah returned, 
bade him serve the supper in tones as well con 
trolled as they were gentle. 



II 

3N the great barren kitchen Uncle Noah wiped 
his steel-rimmed spectacles and glared angrily 
about him. 

" Ol' Missus grievin' her heart out foh young 
Massa Dick," he reflected, " and de Colonel say 
'slight no one!' Gord-a-massy, whut am dis yere 
ol' worl' a-comin' to? Ebery time ol' Mis' cry for 
young Massa, Colonel say Job gobbles " 

The old darky choked miserably at the thought of 
the destined check to Job's gobbling career and, re 
placing his spectacles, carefully carried in the sup 
per, prolonging its simple service to the uttermost, 
with the single idea of adding precious minutes to 
the doomed turkey's span of life. 

When at length he sought the barn it was quite 
dark and the velvet stillness of the night was dotted 
thickly with snowflakes. With trembling fingers he 
opened the great barn-door, lit a queer old lantern 
hanging just within, and hung it high upon a pro 
jecting hook. The dim light revealed an antique 
carriage-house, in one corner of which upon a rude, 
improvised roost of shingles the tyrant Job slept the 
sleep of the just and the unjust rolled into one. As 
the light flickered upon his ruffled feathers the tur 
key emitted a throaty grunt of disapproval and 
moved cumbrously around to avoid the light. 



ancle IRoab'g dbrfetmas Inspiration 

Uncle Noah addressed him with great firmness. 
" Now see yere, Massa Job," he said, " tain't no use 
yoh puttin' on yoh high and mighty airs to-night. 
Ise come to interview yoh, sah ! Understand? " 

Job majestically tucked his head beneath his wing 
as if to intimate his indifference to the proposed 
interview. 

Uncle Noah surveyed his ruffled back feathers 
with increased respect. " So," he said, " yoh refuse 
me an interview, Massa Job Fairfax. Yoh is 
sleepy, sah, dat's whut's got into yoh." He stroked 
the turkey with a gentle hand, and, Job, resenting 
the indignity, withdrew his head from the sheltering 
wing and pecked at the brown fingers, turning 
around with a stately movement and facing the 
light once more with a sleepy blink of his bright, 
beadlike eyes. 

" Now, sah, we can talk," exclaimed the negro in 
delight. Drawing up an old box he seated himself 
before the roost and beamed benevolently over his 
glasses. " Colonel done say yoh gobble under de 
winder 'bout suppertime," he began confidentially. 
" When ol' Mis' cry 'bout young Massa Dick de 
Colonel he jus' gotta scold 'bout sumthin', and as 
yoh is de mos' important person about he jus' 
naturally s'lects yoh." 

18 



"Uncle float's Obrtetmas Inspiration 

The turkey held his head upon one side, appar 
ently in critical admiration of the darkey's quaint 
old scarfpin which resembled a grain of corn 
mounted on a needle. 

Uncle Noah, who had always had a faint mistrust 
of Job's attitude toward this ancient Ethiopian heir 
loom, promptly removed it to a place of safety. 
Then with a sudden resolve that no thought of the 
coming tragedy should mar his last visit with his 
old companion he rose and sought a dim, cobwebby 
corner of the barn, whence he returned with a box. 

" Dese yere, Job/' he explained, " is de flowers 
whut young Massa Dick have sent to his mother 
ebery holiday since he done went away from yere. 
Mornin', I specs, when de Colonel sees 'em at her 
plate, he'll declare yoh gobblin' sumthin' fierce under 
de winder again ; he always do." 

The old negro broke the string of the box and re 
moved a glowing mass of purple orchids odd, tran 
sient tenants of the crazy old barn. Job suddenly 
reached over and pecked a blossom from its stem, 
ate the heart with the dainty air of an epicure, and 
discarded the remainder with a noise akin to a gob 
ble of disgust. 

Uncle Noah rose in scandalized protest. "Yoh 
good-foh-nothin', miserable, sassy turkey ! " he 



dncle moab'e Cbrietmas Ifnspfratfon 

scolded, hastily removing the orchids ; " you sar- 
tinly is de mos' scan'lous, no-'count bird I ever 
knowed. Eat one o' ol' Missus's orchards ! Laws- 
a-massy, Job, yoh goes mos' too far. Now, sah, yoh 
be quiet and listen to dis note I gets from young 
Massa Dick," and he carefully deciphered the writ 
ten lines for the listening Job. 

Dear Uncle Noah: I have written Foster and 
Company as usual to send Mother's orchids. They 
should get there Christmas Eve. Will you put them 
at her plate in the morning? I find they are the 
only suggestion of me that the Colonel will allow in 
the house. I tried another letter this week, but it 
came back unopened. Uncle Noah, give Mother 
" A Merry Christmas " for me. DICK. 

Uncle Noah laid the letter on his knee and drew 
from a worn leather wallet several newspaper clip 
pings. They were glowing reports, gleaned from a 
stray newspaper, of the success of a young architect 
in a distant Northern city, one Richard Fairfax, Jr. 
Uncle Noah proudly read them aloud for the hun 
dredth time, interpolating little explanatory remarks 
to the turkey, who gobbled threateningly but failed 
to intimidate his tormentor. 



20 



Tflncle floab'a dbrtetmas Inspiration 

" Job, whut yoh think 'bout dis yere quarrel ? " 
Uncle Noah said as the turkey eyed him sternly. 
" I say de Colonel's too hard on de boy. A quarrel's 
a quarrel, yoh say. H'm, maybe yoh right, but it's 
dis Fairfax pride ob de Colonel's dat keep him from 
readin' de boy's letters, and nothin' else, sah. He 
sorry for that quarrel, doan you fo'get it. But de 
Colonel he prouder'n Lucifer. H'm, yoh say yoh 
understan' pride cause yoh is proud yohself." Then 
as the turkey relapsed into slumber, " Now, see yere, 
Massa Job, yoh ain't no mo' sleepier'n I is." Uncle 
Noah poked the turkey with his ringer, and Job 
arched his neck with a threatening flap of his wings 
and descended from his perch. " Fight me, will 
yoh?" demanded Uncle Noah in secret delight, 
" yoh is de touchiest bird ! Yere, fight wid dese 
yere crusts o' bread." 

Job spread his tail magnificently and began an 
erratic consumption of the bread crusts, pertly tak 
ing them one by one from the old negro's hand and 
arranging them upon the barn floor for a later and 
more personal inspection. Uncle Noah watched him 
with misty eyes. Presently his gaze furtively sought 
the rusty ax in the corner, and a great tear rolled 
down his cheek. Caught in the wave of a sudden 
panic he dropped upon his knees and clasped his 



21 



"Qlncle TOoab's Gbrtstmas Inspiration 

trembling hands. The dusky barn, littered with 
odds and ends, was dimly visible in the glimmering 
light of the old-fashioned lantern whose slanting 
rays fell upon the doomed bird and the praying 
negro. No thought of sacrilege marred the quaint, 
halting prayer. A terrible earnestness lined the 
negro's face with a holiness of purpose and made it 
beautiful. 

" Oh, Lord," he prayed, " save dis yere oP turkey 
gobbler. I knows, Lord, he's a powahful wuthless 
bird, but he's all Ise got. Ise jus' an' ol' slave, 
Massa, whut's been free since de War, an' Job, sah, 
he understand me. Lord, I doan wanta live no mo' 
if I has to kill ol' Job. Send me an inspiration, 
Lord, an' tell me how I can save his wuthless ol' 
hide. Save him an' an' God bless de Colonel! 
Amen." 

For an interval, in which the only sound was that 
of Job's feet as he strutted about seeking an edible 
successor to the bread, Uncle Noah remained upon 
his knees in the attitude of prayer, perhaps awaiting 
inspiration. At length he rose, and, seating himself 
upon the box once more, buried his white head de 
jectedly in his hands. The snowflakes filtered slowly 
through a crevice at the side, heaping fantastically 
into a miniature drift. Absently Uncle Noah 



ancle Hoab's Cbtistmas Inspiration 

watched them, his mind traveling back to many a 
snowy Christmas " before the War." 

Suddenly his brown face glowed with radiance 
and he drew a long breath of relief. "Job," he 
said, leaning forward and patting the turkey, " I 
has it! Yoh'd scarcely believe it, sah, but Ise 
a-goin' to save yoh." 

He arose transformed, the despondent droop of 
his lean body replaced by an alert energy. " Now, 
Job," he coaxed, " I jus' wants yoh foh to come 
along wif me peaceable, sah. Ise after yoh to save 
yoh ol' hide from de Christmas platter." 

But Job, with a malicious enjoyment of the game, 
was prancing wildly about the barn, flapping his 
wings in hysterical derision of his breathless pur 
suer. Brought to bay he squawked a protest and 
struggled violently as Uncle Noah unceremoniously 
imprisoned him beneath one arm. 

" There, sah," exclaimed the negro triumphantly, 
" I has yoh ! Yoh is sartinly the mos' wuthless tur 
key on dis yere plantation." 

Tightly clasping the outraged tyrant Uncle Noah 
tiptoed to the lantern and blew it out. Then stum 
bling across the floor he stealthily left the barn and 
set out across the snowy fields to a tumble-down 
shanty, sole survivor of a string of negro huts long 



23 



Ulncle IRoab's Cbristmas ITnsptratfcm 

since burned one by one in the library fireplace. 
Into its dilapidated interior he thrust the protesting 
turkey, pausing at the door as he struck a match to 
view the bird's temporary quarters. 

" Now, Massa Job Fairfax," he began, " I knows 
yoh is jus' mad clean through. Yoh jus' naturally 
objects to bein' toted out in de snow in de middle o' 
de turkey night 'thout bein' asked. Yoh says yoh 
back is full o' snow. Well, I jus' asks yoh, Massa 
Job Fairfax, ain't dat better'n bein' wifout a head? 
Now, sah, I asks yoh to be mos' terrible quiet dis 
yere night. Ise a-goin' into Cotesville on a little 
trip an' I doan want de Colonel to know yoh here." 

He closed the rickety door, and, hurrying back 
across the fields, sought the kitchen, his eyes behind 
their spectacles shining with excitement. Muffling 
himself in a quaint red knitted scarf, a dingy over 
coat and a worn fur cap, plentifully earlapped, he 
left the house again, pausing only long enough to 
peer through the library window at the Colonel, who 
was reading aloud to his wife, both drawn up in the 
cheery warmth of a blazing wood fire. Then he 
hurried on along the road to town. 

With a prayer in his heart for the success of his 
mission Uncle Noah trudged sturdily down the two 
miles to Cotesville, past Major Verney's old planta- 



24 



1Hncl ttoab's Cbriatmas Unsptratfon 

tion, the cheery lights of the great house twinkling 
brightly through a curtain of snow, and into the 
snow-laden air of the village streets alive with 
Christmas shoppers. Holly and mistletoe, Christ 
mas trees rilling the air with the odor of pine, danc 
ing snowflakes and bright lights, wonderful win 
dows wreathed and dotted in Christmas glitter, and 
cheery voices who could resist them ? Uncle Noah 
felt his heart quiver with hope; jubilantly he turned 
his steps toward the railroad station ahead. 

The Northern Express flashed through the snow 
and came to a stop with a clang and a roar, dis 
gorging a chattering holiday crowd who paused for 
a change of cars at Cotesville on their southbound 
trips. Uncle Noah hastened his shuffling footsteps: 
the Northern Express with its horde of transient 
visitors had been a vital part of the inspiration. 
Upon the station platform people stamped up and 
down in the snow or laughed and chatted, quite 
oblivious to the timid gaze of the old darky who 
slowly made his way among them. One by one 
Uncle Noah left them all behind, a great disappoint 
ment in his face. In their laughing countenances 
he had found nothing of what he sought. 



25 



Ill 

fUST ahead a girl appeared from the shadows 
and walked quickly toward the waiting-room. 
Uncle Noah looked into her fresh, sweet face ; 
then his own lit up with renewed hope and he fol 
lowed her in and touched her timidly on the arm. 
The girl turned, revealing a face rosy with cold, 
and a pair of warm gray eyes fringed in lashes of 
black, eyes that frankly offered a glimpse of a girl's 
impulsive heart brimming over with Christmas 
spirit. 

Uncle Noah removed the battered fur cap and 
bowed low with the deference of a Cavalier. " Ise 
jus' come in to to ask yoh, Miss," he said simply, 
" if yoh'd like to buy an ol' nigger servant. Ise foh 
sale." 

" For sale ! " The girl took in the quaint figure 
with a glance of blank astonishment. " Why," she 
gasped, " surely you " 

" Ise ol', Miss," he interrupted timidly, but meet 
ing her gaze with unwavering sincerity ; " I specs 
Ise mos' a hundred ; but Ise powahf ul tough an' full 
o' work, an' an', Miss, I has to sell maself to 
night 'cause 'cause " 

Uncle Noah paused uncertainly, seeking a fit ex 
pression of his dilemma, and the girl, readily in 
tuitive, glanced swiftly about to assure herself that 



26 



Wide ftoab'6 Cbrtetmas Inspiration 

the waiting-room was free from unsympathetic 
eavesdroppers. Then, strangely drawn by this 
quaint old vender of humanity, and warmly eager 
to put him more at his ease, she impulsively pushed 
a rocking-chair toward the old stove in the center 
and motioned him to be seated. But Uncle Noah 
had been reared in the Fairfax family, and a Fair 
fax never sat when a lady was still upon her feet. 
With a courtly gesture the old man bowed her to the 
chair she had drawn for him. A quick gleam of 
approval flashed in the gray eyes and with a deepen 
ing flush of puzzled interest, the girl instantly seated 
herself, unfastening the silver fox at her throat as 
she felt the warmth of the old country stove. 

" Please, I would so much rather you, too, would 
sit down," she said impulsively, and as Uncle Noah 
drew forward another of the rickety old rocking- 
chairs with which the Cotesville waiting-room was 
dotted, she bent toward him a light in the wonder 
ful gray eyes that won Uncle Noah's heart. 

"Tell me," she said kindly: "Tell me just why 
you want to sell yourself." 

No, she had not laughed at him! Uncle Noah 
glowed to the tips of his fingers at the ready sym 
pathy of her tone. He beamed mildly at her over 
his spectacles, turning the old fur cap round and 



27 



Tflnclc IRoab's Gbrtetmas Unspfratton 

round in his hands as he sought to voice the words 
that struggled to his lips. " OF Massa's money 
an', Miss, he hain't had much since de War; jus' 
'nuff to live comfutable all go in de Cotes ville 
bank crash las' fall an' he doan want ol' Mis' foh to 
know. Ise de only one o' de niggers whut's left, 
an' dere's only one ol' turkey gobbler left o' de 
stock. He's my ol' pet, Miss, mos' like a chile, 
an' an' " Uncle Noah choked. 

The girl's eyes were misty velvet. " And he told 
you to kill your pet for the Christmas dinner ? " she 
finished gently. 

Uncle Noah nodded. " Massa done say we mus' 
hab a turkey foh de Christmas dinner, or ol' Mis'll 
suspect de de financial crisis whut we're in. Out 
in de barn I prays foh an inspiration an' I 'spect it 
come." 

" And so you decided to sell yourself " began 

the girl. 

" Yas'm." Uncle Noah's voice had grown 
apologetic. " Yoh see, Miss, Ise de only thing 
whut I really owns 'cept dis yere ol' stickpin. Cose 
Ise free now, but I reckons if I has a mind to sell 
maself de Norf can't stop me. Ise sellin' ma own 
property." There was a gentle defiance in the old 
negro's quaint argument. 



TUncle Yloab'3 Cbcistmaa misptratfon 

" And you you wouldn't accept a a loan ? " 
The girl flushed. 

The negro's hurt eyes were answer enough. 
Uncle Noah had not lived in an atmosphere per 
meated with Fairfax pride without feeling its in 
fluence. 

" Ise not askin' foh charity, Miss," he averred 
stubbornly. " Ise a-sellin' sumthin'. I reckons if 
yoh buy me, Miss, an' yoh lemme go back an' stay 
Christmas wif ol' Massa, I'll sell maself cheap. 
Yoh see Ise a-plannin' first to buy a turkey whut'll 
take Job's place on de platter, an' den to give de 
Massa a gran' Christmas wif de rest o' de money 
what I gits foh maself, savin' out jus' enough to 
buy ma ol' turkey an' come to yoh first day after 
Christmas. It'll be hard to leave ol' Massa and Mis', 
but I reckons it's jus' gotta be done." 

Uncle Noah gulped and blinked, and there was a 
glimmer of wet lashes about the warm gray eyes 
that had won his heart. 

The girl was silent so long that Uncle Noah 
shifted uneasily; but at last she spoke a little trem 
ulously. " For what price will you sell yourself? " 
she asked, and Uncle Noah never doubted but that 
she regarded the purchase in the same light in which 
he himself had viewed it. 



Tllncle Iftoab's Cbrfetmas Ihtspftatlon 

He turned about for his purchaser's thorough 
inspection, his bald head above the fringe of white 
wool about it glistening in the lamplight. " Do yoh 
think Ise wuth, say, twenty-five dollahs?" he 
queried, regarding her fixedly over his spectacles. 

The girl touched her throat with an unconscious 
gesture. " Yes, you are," she cried impulsively ; 
" you are indeed ! " And before Uncle Noah had 
quite time to adjust himself to the joy of his unique 
sale the girl thrust a roll of bills into his hands and 
disappeared through the station door. 




IV 

'NCLE NOAH hobbled after her. His new 
mistress had quite forgotten to tell him 
where to deliver himself when his Christ 
mas with the Colonel was over. But when he 
reached the door she was eagerly greeting a man 
who had just alighted from a waiting carriage. 
Uncle Noah could but dimly see him, but as the 
genial voice reached his ears he halted in the shadow 
quite content. It was Major Verney. The fact 
that the Colonel's old friend and neighbor had 
driven in from Fernlands to meet the radiant lady 
whose great gray eyes, Uncle Noah now recalled, 
had had the Verney look which endeared the owner 
of Fernlands to all who knew him, seemed to the 
watching negro a direct interposition of Providence. 
A scant mile of cottonfields lay between the two 
plantations, and, Christmas over, Uncle Noah had 
but to trudge across the fields to deliver himself to 
the Major's guest. 

" And, Ruth," concluded Major Verney in laugh 
ing reprimand, " you have kept me waiting. Why, 
child, the Northern Express came in fifteen min 
utes ago." 

Uncle Noah did not catch the girl's reply as Major 
Verney assisted her into the carriage and they drove 
rapidly away. 



IRoab'0 Cbrietmas 1Tn0piration 



The old darky beamed happily after the retreat 
ing carriage; then, with his hand tightly clasped 
about the precious roll of greenbacks for which he 
had so willingly bartered his freedom, he began a 
tour of the Cotesville stores. When at length he 
staggered into the big grocery store for his final 
purchases he was laden with a miscellaneous col 
lection of Christmas packages from which he was 
cheerfully disentangled by the bulky proprietor him 
self. Uncle Noah made a critical pilgrimage about 
the store, pausing at last before a counter where the 
proprietor had laid out a number of turkeys for the 
careful inspection of this beaming shopper about to 
select an understudy for the incomparable Job. A 
very respectable fowl was presently mantled in 
brown paper and laid beside the other bundles, along 
with sundry bags of cranberries and apples, 
oranges and nuts, celery and raisins, cigars for the 
Colonel, a box of candy for Mrs. Fairfax, huge 
bunches of holly and mistletoe, Christmas wreaths 
for the windows, and a great bag of cracked corn 
for the reprieved tyrant gloomily roosting in the 
ruined old negro hut. 

As Uncle Noah carefully counted out the money 
required to purchase this astonishing outlay the 
bulky proprietor asked pleasantly : " Uncle Noah, do 



Tflncte floab'0 Cbristmas fnepiration 

you happen to know where I can get a good woman 
to scrub up my store every morning ? " 

Uncle Noah fingered his scarfpin uncertainly. 
" How much do yoh pay foh de work ? " he queried. 

" Fifty cents a day." 

The negro leaned forward in tense expectancy. 
" Do yoh 'spect I could do it ? " he demanded ex 
citedly. 

The proprietor, secretly astonished by the old 
man's manner, nodded assuringly. " Why, yes, you 
could easily; it's nothing much; but the 
Colonel " 

" Colonel doan have foh to know," exclaimed 
Uncle Noah. " I comes yere mornin's foh he's up 
an' I 'clare to goodness, sah, I needs de money mos' 
powahful." 

The proprietor was easy-going and too phlegmatic 
to harbor curiosity. So the bargain was straight 
way sealed under a pledge of deepest secrecy. 

Somewhat confused by the unusual series of 
events, Uncle Noah, his eyes shining with a strange 
excitement, started for the door, quite forgetting 
the countless packages on th'e counter. 

The proprietor recalled him with a hearty laugh. 
" Uncle Noah," he called, " you've forgotten one or 
two little bundles here." 



33 



THncle IRoab's Cbrletmas Ifnapiratfon 

With a smothered gasp the old negro hurried 
back. But try as they would, room for all the 
numerous bundles could not be found. The pro 
prietor energetically tucked bundles into all of 
Uncle Noah's pockets, piled them tower fashion 
upon his arms, and even hung a collection bound 
together with a string over his shoulder, while 
Uncle Noah wheezed and groaned and struggled to 
find new and unsuspected storage space in his 
clothes, but still there remained bundles and bundles 
at which Uncle Noah gazed over his spectacles in 
growing discomfiture. 

" Whut am I a-goin' to do ? " he demanded. " I 
nevah can come all de way back yere in de snow 
wif dese yere ol' legs o' mine." 

" Get one of them station cabs," advised the 
grocer; and so, after considerable discussion, the 
bundle problem was solved. 

Ten minutes later Uncle Noah entered a hired 
carriage for the first time in his life. At the town 
florist's he rapped a timid signal to the driver to 
stop, and, glowing with anticipation, spryly shuffled 
into the warm, scented air of the little shop. Here, 
to the smiling clerk's astonishment, he ordered a 
bunch of violets to be delivered Christmas morning 



34 



dude floab'0 Cbrtstmaa Inspiration 

to " de young lady wif de gray eyes whut's at 
Major Verney's." 

" Surely," smiled the clerk, " you don't want that 
on the card ? " 

But Uncle Noah was stubborn ; more, he insisted 
on writing the inscription himself, his orthography 
quite as quaint as his penmanship, and so the card 
went to be read by the wonderful gray eyes in the 
morning. 

Back through the snow in his rickety carriage 
rolled Uncle Noah, rattling home along the snowy 
road down which he had trudged in the early even 
ing, chuckling now intermittently in a mental re 
hearsal of his new plan. 

" Fifty cents a day ! " he thought, " an* tomor 
row Ise a-goin' to slip over to Fernlands in de 
mornin' an' ask her to lemme buy maself back on 
de 'stallment plan. Mos' likely she'll take a dollar 
a week, an' wid all de rest o' dat grocer money ol' 
Mis' doan have to know whut de Colonel an' me 
is a-goin' through." 

In accordance with Uncle Noah's whispered di 
rections the cab crept gently up the driveway at 
Brierwood and paused at the kitchen door, where 
the driver, who had taken a great fancy to Uncle 
Noah, became transformed into a benevolent steve- 



35 



"ducte IKoab's Cbrietmas ITnspfration 

dore, tiptoeing in and out of the kitchen with the 
bundles which the old darky drew from the cavern 
ous pit of the cab. Job's understudy came last, and 
Uncle Noah, tightly pressing the precious fowl in 
his arms, watched the carriage drive slowly away. 
Then, after an interval in the kitchen devoted to 
hiding his purchases, he sought the library, striving 
to simulate a decent depression over the assumed 
decapitation of Job. 

Colonel Fairfax looked up inquiringly as he 
entered. 

" Ise jus' come to tell yoh, sah," said Uncle Noah 
with a meaning glance at Mrs. Fairfax, " dat I has 
de turkey all ready foh de oven." 

A faint red crept through the Colonel's skin, but 
he met the darky's eyes squarely. " Thank you, 
Uncle Noah ! " he said, and the negro shuffled hur 
riedly away. 

In his old rocking-chair by the kitchen fire Uncle 
Noah, alert and excited, waited until he heard the 
Colonel and Mrs. Fairfax go up to bed; then, 
chuckling to himself, he extinguished the kitchen 
lights, and, carrying one of his Christmas bundles, 
plodded across the field to Job's nocturnal hermit 
age. The light of a match revealed the tyrant 

36 



Uncle Hoab's Cbrfdtmae Inspiration 

roosting glumly on the summit of a ruined plow 
share. 

" Ise brought yoh a Christmas surprise, Massa 
Job Fairfax," said Uncle Noah, and he sprinkled the 
floor of the hut thick with corn that the turkey 
might find it in the morning. 

With his heart full of thanksgiving the negro 
plodded homeward through the snow. As he 
reached the old barn the great clock in the library 
struck twelve and faintly through the snowy air 
floated the distant silvery chimes of the Cotesville 
bells, clear and sweet, ringing in a Christmas 
morning. 

Creeping to bed long after the first rooster had 
crowed Uncle Noah had sought the kitchen again 
with the sunrise, his tired eyes opening jubilantly 
upon a snapping cold Christmas morning radiant in 
gold and white. Downstairs clusters of holly and 
mistletoe festooned doors and windows, dotted the 
old-fashioned hanging lamps with spots of crimson, 
and crowned the family portraits with royal dia 
dems, and evergreen wreaths hung in the windows 
all the work of a wrinkled pair of faithful brown 
hands toiling while the world slept. In the library 
a blazing wood fire leaped and crackled, while in 
the dining-room the table was spread for breakfast. 



37 



tlncle 1Hcab'0 Cbtidtmae Unspfratton 

Certain long-needed articles of china, which had 
mysteriously disappeared from time to time since 
the autumn, dotted a tablecloth free from holes (a 
new one subjected to a severe laundry process dur 
ing the night), and the napkins no longer resembled 
Ku-Klux masks. A great bowl of purple orchids 
glowed at Mrs. Fairfax's plate. 



rE Colonel greeted the Christmas festoons 
of holly in the library with a stare of aston 
ished approval. A question had risen to his 
lips, but the warning look in Uncle Noah's eyes as 
they rested on Mrs. Fairfax had checked it. These 
two had had many financial and domestic secrets 
from the dear lady, and the Colonel promptly de 
cided that Uncle Noah had sold some forgotten 
relic and had once more made use of his highly 
developed faculty for expanding a small sum to in 
credible elasticity, and he praised the result ac 
cordingly. Mrs. Fairfax, too, brightened wonder 
fully, yielding to the Christmas spirit with which the 
old darky had contrived to fill the house. 

Uncle Noah felt a glow of delight at their out 
spoken appreciation, and, bowing elaborately, he 
ushered his master and mistress in to breakfast. 
Here again, as he seated himself, the Colonel was 
conscious of an agreeable flood of astonishment. 
There was quite an air about this Christmas break 
fast. Fixing his keen eyes on the tablecloth and 
napkins he stealthily fingered them with a search 
ing look at the waiting negro. Fortunately his in 
terest was speedily diverted. He caught sight of 
the orchids and the tear-stained face of his wife 



Qlncle moab'0 Cbrtstmas Ungpiratfon 

bending over them. With a wrench of his chair he 
arose. 

" Patricia ! " he said stormily, " did I not say that 

nothing of his did I not " he paused and 

gulped. " Uncle Noah," he added unsteadily, " that 
turkey of yours is gobbling like a fiend under the 
window; you he " 

The Colonel stopped abruptly, reddened as his 
eyes fell upon the negro (Uncle Noah had wisely 
turned away), and sternly reseated himself, some 
what confused by his thoughtless reference to the 
late lamented Job. 

Uncle Noah hobbled from the room, his brown 
face working convulsively. In the kitchen he shook 
with silent laughter, doubling over breathlessly and 
clasping his hands over his stomach in aching dis 
tress. 

"And what, Uncle Noah," asked the Colonel 
kindly as the old negro presently reentered the din 
ing-room, " have we for our Christmas breakfast ? " 

" Well, sah," Uncle Noah began fluently, " we has 
grapefruit, cereal wif cream, quail on toast, fried 
oysters er oatmeal, hot muffins, fried chicken, 
co'nbread an* coffee ! " 

The Colonel, appearing to be thoughtfully con 
sidering his choice, replied as usual : " It all sounds 



TUnclc iftoab's Cbrtetmas inspiration 

delicious, Uncle Noah, but I have a touch of my 
old enemy dyspepsia to-day. I think I shall have 
some cornbread and coffee, and so will Mrs. Fair 
fax." 

" I doan think you quite understand me, sah," 
averred Uncle Noah, " an', sah, I Aspects yoh dys 
pepsia ain't so bad dis mornin'. We has foh break 
fast, sah, grapefruit, cereal wif cream, quail on 
toast, fried oysters er oatmeal, fried chicken, hot 
muffins, co'nbread an' coffee!" 

There was no mistaking the emphasis this time. 
Colonel Fairfax darted a lightning glance at the 
negro and amended his selection with a question in 
his voice. " Well, now I come to think of it, Uncle 
Noah," he said, " my dyspepsia isn't nearly so bad. 
I'll have, let me see, oatmeal that was in the list, 
I believe er fried chicken am I right? muf 
fins, cornbread and coffee." 

There was a conviction in the Colonel's deep 
voice that something extraordinary was afoot, and 
Uncle Noah, flurried by its ominous ring, hurried 
from the room. Dimly he had pictured his master's 
gracious astonishment and pleasure. Any queries 
relative to the financial source of the Christmas 
delicacies, however, had been lost entirely in the 



lanclc floab'0 Cbrtetmns Inspiration 

darky's jubilant excitement. Now he groaned in 
dismay. 

"Yoh is in a mess for sure, Uncle Noah," he 
apostrophized himself. " Whut'll yoh do when it 
come time foh dinnah? Yere yoh has a Christmas 
dinnah fit foh a King, an' de Colonel he know right 
well dat we has only a little lef from de money 
whut we done get when we sold de silver teapot." 

It was Christmas, however, and Uncle Noah 
felt convinced that the Providence that had watched 
so well over his Christmas Eve would order a spe 
cial dispensation for his new dilemma. While 
awaiting its manifestation he would studiously avoid 
the Colonel, and would slip across to Fernlands, 
once the pseudo Job was safe in the oven, and beg 
the gray-eyed lady to accept a dollar a week of the 
grocer's money in his inspired scheme of self- 
redemption. 

With this in mind Uncle Noah served the break 
fast, hurried his preparations for the midday feast, 
and at five minutes of eleven, the turkey safely 
roasting, set out across the fields for Major 
Verney's. 

At Fernlands the eleven strokes of the grand 
father's clock in the great hall found the gray-eyed 
lady in the arms of a young fellow who had but that 



42 



"dncte floab'0 Cbristmas 1fn0ptratlon 

instant bounded lightly up the walk from the sleigh 
Major Verney had dispatched to Cotesville to meet 
the Northern Express. The Major, smilingly 
awaiting his opportunity to greet the newcomer, ran 
his eye approvingly over the lines of the well-knit 
figure and handsome face. 

" Well, Dick," said the Major, advancing with 
outstretched hand as the girl flushed prettily and 
smoothed back the dark mist of hair from her fore 
head, " how are you, my boy ? Busy, of course. 
We read fine things of you in the papers at 
times." Then, as the young man took off his 
overcoat, " What, sir," the Major inquired, " do 
you mean by falling in love with my only niece? 
Here my brother writes me that his daughter is 
engaged to a man who knows me, and will I pack off 
a carload of testimonials by special messenger in 
dorsing the little rascal who used to steal my apples. 
What, sir, do you mean ? " 

" Well, Major," Dick answered as he was ushered 
into the big living-room, his laughing eyes alight 
with happiness, " she had the Verney eyes, and you 
remember I always liked them." He sank into a 
chair by Ruth with a smiling glance at the Major. 
" It is unusually cold for down here. There's a real 
bracing Northern sting in the air. And what a 



43 



"Chicle Tftoab'0 Gbrfgtmas ITnspfratfon 

snow ! It's packed down so that the runners fairly 
flew. Major, do sit down ! " 

The Major was still bustling about, urging Ruth 
into another chair by the fire that he himself might 
sit by Dick, poking energetically at the blazing logs, 
and firing a volley of directions at black Sam. 

" There ! " he exclaimed, finally seating himself. 
" Now, sir, relative to this infatuated young person 
on my left, who has condescended to visit her uncle 
for the first time since she arrived on the planet. 
I met her last night according to telegraphed in 
structions, and she kept me waiting let me 
see " 

" Uncle ! " protested Ruth, " you've added fifteen 
minutes to that wait every time you've mentioned 
it." 

" My dear child, politeness alone has kept me from 
naming the full extent of my wait. If you please, 
sir," he turned to Dick, " she was in the clutches of 
a beggar who obtained twenty-five dollars by a most 
extraordinary yarn." 

" Twenty-five dollars ! " Dick whistled, smiling at 
the flush that crept up to the gray eyes. " Was it an 
aged father this time or a hungry brood of mother 
less waifs, Ruthie?" 

" Dick, listen ! " cried the girl. " Uncle misjudges 



Tnncle floab'a Cbrtetmae Inspiration 

him. It was a dear old colored man and he told 
me the strangest story." 

"You don't often find a grateful beggar who 
sends you violets in the morning purchased with 
some of your own shekels," said the Major, pinch 
ing the flushed cheek. " Tell him, Ruthie ; it was 
odd, and I believe I'd have done the same thing 
myself." 

The girl flashed a grateful look at him and then 
told the story of her purchase of the night before 
so eloquently that the Major and Dick heard her 
through with sober faces, secretly touched by its 
pathos. " And he must have recognized Uncle," she 
ended, " for the violets came this morning with the 
quaintest card." 

For an instant she dreamily scanned the fire, see 
ing in its glowing embers the brown wrinkled negro 
face with its honest eyes, peering at her over his 
spectacles in troubled apprehension ; then she sprang 
to her feet. 

" Uncle Edward," she cried, " did you tell Uncle 
Neb to wait with the sleigh ? Those sleigh-bells are 
beginning to sound hysterical." 

" Merciful goodness! " cried the Major; " I cer 
tainly did. I had the strictest commands to drive 
in to church for Mother Verney at eleven o'clock. 



45 



"dncle floab's Cbrfstmas inspiration 

Hi, Sam, you black rascal, tell Uncle Neb I'll be 
right out." 

" I'll tell him, Uncle/' called Ruth, flying swiftly 
up the long hall to the library window. 

But no clear call went ringing over the snow to 
Uncle Neb; instead, there was silence, broken at 
length by a voice that called softly in great excite 
ment, " Dick ! Uncle Edward ! do come here. 
Look ! " she cried as they quickly joined her. " You 
see, Uncle, he didn't forget ! " 

Smiling, the two men looked from the window. 
An old negro muffled in a threadbare overcoat was 
plodding up the walk, his eyes scanning the house 
with evident curiosity. 

The Major uttered a quick exclamation and the 
girl wheeled about. 

"Don't you see?" she cried. "He's come to 
day, honest old fellow that he is! See, Dick " 

She stopped abruptly, looking from one to the 
other. There was something in the two stern faces 
staring beyond her at the bent negro that struck a 
chill to her heart. Dick's face had gone white, and 
the Major's hand had stolen to the younger man's 
shoulder as if to steady him. 

There was a startled incredulity in the Major's 

46 



Tnncle floab'a Cbrfstmas Inspiration 

face as he said : " Brace up, old man ! You didn't 
know and neither did I." 

" Ruth," Dick asked unsteadily, " is that the old 
colored man whose whose master " 

" Yes ! " cried the girl, the sharp pain of premoni 
tion in her voice. " Oh, Dick, who is he ? " 

Dick's miserable eyes sought hers as he answered, 

" It's it's Dad's Uncle Noah. Ruth, I " He 

turned and sought the hall. 

Ruth's face flamed at his words. Uncle Noah's 
pathetic story came crowding over her again in the 
light of Dick's revelation. His father and mother! 
The stern old Colonel, of whom Dick always spoke 
with such respectful loyalty in spite of their quarrel, 
and the dear mother, whose tender eyes gazing from 
the old-fashioned daguerreotype Dick always car 
ried had made her choke with sudden tears these 
two were Uncle Noah's beloved " ol' Massa an' ol' 
Mis'"! 

She turned; the Major had followed Dick to the 
hallway. A shuffling step sounded on the porch 
outside, and the girl hurried toward the door, a 
sudden light of daring in her eyes. Impulse had 
always ruled the Verneys, and Ruth was a Verney 
from the crown of her dark head to the tips of her 
small feet. Catching up Grandmother Verney's 



47 



Uncle Boab'0 Cbrtetma0 fnapiration 

long cloak hanging over a chair, she softly left the 
house. 

Dick, struggling into his overcoat, turned at the 
Major's touch on his arm. 

" Just a minute, Dick." Major Verney's genial 
voice was sympathetic as a woman's. " Remember 
that what the Colonel refused in prosperity he's not 
likely to take in adversity. Sit down here by the 
fire until we talk it over." 

" But, Major " there was a note of anguish in 
the boy's voice " I must go to him. Think of 
Uncle Noah selling himself to help them, and 
I " 

But the Major had already removed the over 
coat and gently pushed his guest into a chair by the 
fire. " Yes, yes," he said as he seated himself ; " we 
know all about that, my boy ; but I'm afraid, Dick," 
he added regretfully, "that the Colonel wouldn't 
let you in. He's very bitter." 

Dick groaned. He was calmer now. " You're 
right, Major," he said steadily; " it hurt so at first 
that I didn't think. I can't go now." He leaned 

forward anxiously. "The Cotesville Bank ?" 

he questioned abruptly. 

" Crashed in the autumn in September." Dick 



Tnncle Hoab'0 Cbrfstmas Inspiration 

bit his lip, and the Major added : " He was heavily 
interested." 

Dick stared at the fire. " It was all he had," he 
said. 

" I see." The Major's quiet voice gave no hint 
of his own emotion. " I didn't know. Of course I 
heard he had lost something; we all did; but I 
thought he had other money." 

" No. Tell me, Major, you've been going to 
Brierwood this winter just as usual? " 

" Of course ; every Wednesday night. The 
Colonel and I are too old to alter the habit of a 
lifetime, and besides we both love that long evening 
playing chess. There's always a roaring wood fire 
and a steaming pot of coffee, and your mother al 
ways plays Beethoven for us just before I go." 

A look of relief shone in Dick's eyes. " ' Always 
a fire,' " he repeated. " I'm glad of that. There 
was no suggestion of of want ? " 

" Heavens, no ! " The Major's deep voice was 
full of assurance. " Last week," he added thought 
fully, " the coffee was pretty weak, but it never 

occurred to me that " he stopped abruptly, rose 

from his chair with sudden energy, violently blew 
his nose, and tramped down to the end of the hall 
and back. " Damn the Fairfax pride ! " he ex- 



"Uncle 'ttoab'6 Gbrtstmae Inspiration 

claimed fiercely. " Here Uncle Noah has been com 
ing into the library Wednesday nights and telling 
the Colonel that the stock had all been bedded down 
for the night when all the time there's been noth 
ing left but this confounded old turkey gobbler 
we've been hearing about. He swore last week that 
somebody had stolen the silver teapot. Abominable 
old liar! He must have sold it." The Major threw 
out his arms with a wrathful gesture. " All this 
comedy, if you please, for my benefit. Here I've 
been there every week, and never suspected, thanks 
to the infernal stratagems of that black fiend of an 
Uncle Noah. Damn the Fairfax pride ! " 

The Major sat down as suddenly as he had risen, 
and, bending over, attacked the fire with vicious 
energy. 

" Tell me, Major/' Dick presently asked, " have 
you ever mentioned me to the Colonel since I went 
North?" 

" Once." The Major made a wry face. " I never 
tried again." 

Dick colored. " Does he know about Ruth ? " 

" No, I dared not mention it." The Major 
looked at the other intently. "Dick," he said, 
" what was this quarrel all about, anyway ? " 

"In the beginning, Major," admitted the young 



"Uncle float's Cbrfatmas Inspiration 

man, flushing, " it was so childish that I'm 
ashamed to speak of it." 

" Out with it ! " commanded the Major. " I won't 
be hoodwinked by a Fairfax any longer." 

" Well, sir, if you must know, it was about the 
War." 

" The War ! " exploded the Major. " By gad, sir, 
what about the War?" 

" Dad and I were talking it over, and well, to be 
frank, Major, I said I thought the North had been 
right, and that, if I had been in the world at the 
time, I would have fought with them despite my 
kinsmen." 

" Go on ! Did you fight in any other post-mortem 
wars? The Revolution, or the fall of Rome?" 

Dick ignored the sarcasm. " My sympathy for 
the North made him furious," he went on. " We 
quarreled terribly and both of us said things that 
I know we didn't mean. It was the Fairfax temper, 
sir; I -" 

" Damn the Fairfax temper ! " roared the Major. 
" Thank goodness, the Verneys are mild ! " 

Dick laughed in spite of himself. " I apologized," 
he continued soberly, " but he wouldn't listen ; told 
me to get out ; said if I chose to change my opinions 

5i 



Uncle Boab's Cbrfstmas ITnapfration 

about the North, we'd talk it over, and I, of course, 
refused." 

" Of course ! " interpolated the Major grimly. 

" I've written since, suggesting that we forget it 
all and start anew, but he won't listen, sir." 

The Major stroked his beard ominously. " Did 
it ever occur to you, Dick," he demanded, " that 
enough families were estranged by that War with 
out carrying it over into the Twentieth Century? 
Let me see how long after the War were you born ? 
Twenty years, wasn't it ? I remember ; your father 
and Ruth's were married about the same time." 

" Every man has a right to his opinions, Major," 
Dick asserted with spirit. " Of course I've no per 
sonal knowledge of the War, but " stubbornly 
' the North was right." 

"Fairfax to the core!" thought the Major in 
secret admiration. " The boy's his father all over 
again. Well, Dick," he said mildly, " we older men 
of the South feel a little differently about this War ; 
but, my boy, these post-bellum disputes don't pay, 
particularly when one participant was born long 
after the guns were quiet. In my opinion you didn't 
know enough about the War to quarrel over it. 
Great Scott, quarreling over the War! Dick, you 
deserved to be spanked." 



Uncle Hoab'a Gbrfstmas Inspiration 

The jingle of sleigh-bells rang blithely through 
the silence that followed, and the Major sprang to 
his feet. " Merciful Heavens ! " he exclaimed, star 
ing at his watch, " it's twelve o'clock. That must 
be Uncle Neb still waiting, and Grandmother Ver- 
ney's probably standing on the church porch yet, 
mad as a hornet." He was at the door now, call 
ing wildly to the negro : " Uncle Neb, why under the 
canopy didn't you call me ? " 

The darky scratched his head. " Massa Ed 
ward," he confessed, " I ain't been yere. I jus' 
druv Missy Ruth over to Brierwood with Uncle 
Noah to see Colonel Fairfax." 

The Major summoned Dick in great excitement. 
" Dick," he exclaimed, " get into your overcoat as 
fast as you can and drive over to Brierwood with 
Uncle Neb. Ruth's gone ahead of you, and you 
couldn't have a better deputy short of an angel." 

Dick wrung the Major's hand and fled to the 
waiting sleigh, the color flooding his face. 

" And, Uncle Neb," called the Major frantically, 
" hurry back, or Grandmother Verney will be 
tramping home in the snow, rheumatism or no rheu 
matism." 

With a wild jingle of bells that seemed to Dick 
the hysterical echo of his own heartbeats the sleigh 
was off. 



53 




VI 



T Brierwood the Colonel, wrought to a high 
tension of excitement by the mysterious 
flood of Christmas prosperity, of which the 
latest manifestation had been a fresh newspaper 
dated the night before, surmounted by a cigar of no 
mean label, had been vainly searching for Uncle 
Noah, bewildered by the darky's odd vagaries which 
had culminated in the culprit's disappearance. Just 
as the Colonel had returned to the library, drawn 
his favorite chair up to the cheerful blaze of the 
wood fire, and opened his favorite volume, a door in 
the rear of the house shut softly, and, convinced 
that Uncle Noah had returned, the Colonel closed 
his book and adjusted his glasses, determined to 
have an immediate reckoning with the author of all 
this Christmas cheer. 

A light step sounded behind his chair, and the 
Colonel turned, quite primed for an altercation. In 
an instant, however, the old man was on his feet, 
bowing grandly in spite of his astonishment. A girl 
stood in the doorway, her cloak falling loosely about 
her figure. Her cheeks were blazing scarlet from 
the cold, and the deep gray eyes, fringed in black, 
bore something in their warm depths that stirred 
familiar memories. 

" Colonel," she said, stretching out a slim, white 



54 



Tflncle Hoab'0 Cbrl0tma0 Inspiration 

hand, " I'm Ruth Verney, Major Edward's niece. 
I've just driven one of your servants " (rare tact 
was but one of the Verney charms) " over from 
Fernlands and I thought you wouldn't mind if I 
ran in for an instant to enjoy your fire." 

"Why, child," the Colonel cried, forgetting all 
else in his delight, " you must be Walter Verney's 
daughter." Ruth smilingly nodded. " I know it," 
he went on ; " you have his eyes. Sit down here. I 
knew your father well ; when we were boys he and 
I were inseparable." He paused and added simply : 
" That was before the War." 

The dark lashes veiled for an instant, a certain 
excitement in the gray eyes. " I'm down for Christ 
mas with Uncle Edward," Ruth explained ; and be 
fore the Colonel had fully realized it they were 
chatting happily together like old friends. Sud 
denly the girl exclaimed : " Colonel Fairfax, I know 
you'll be glad to hear that Dad and the Major are 
friends again." 

" Indeed I am ! " agreed the Colonel heartily. " In 
the old days we would have laughed at the man who 
could possibly have suggested a quarrel for the 
Verney twins." 

" Nothing but a cruel war could have done it," 
said the girl quietly. " What does it matter now," 



55 



Qlncle floab'0 Cbrtstmas Inspiration 

she demanded impetuously, " if Daddy did fight for 
the North and the Major for the South? It's all so 
long ago that a quarrel about it is foolish." 

The Colonel cleared his throat. " Yes, it is fool 
ish," he admitted. 

" You see," Ruth leaned eagerly forward, " I met 
a man who knew the Major, and he praised him so 
highly that I lay awake all one night thinking what 
a pity it was that two such splendid men as Daddy 
and his brother should still be enemies pver an old 
bygone war. You know, Colonel, they would have 
been friends ages ago, only each was too proud to 
make the first advance. Wasn't it foolish ? " 

The Colonel nodded, carefully shading his eyes 
from the fire. 

" They were just wasting precious years of com 
panionship," went on the girl. " That thought came 
to me as I lay awake in bed, and the very next 
morning I wrote to the Major. You see, Colonel 
Fairfax, I feel this way," she explained. " There's 
no North and no South. Daddy and the Major are 
citizens of the United States." 

The Colonel rose and busied himself about the 
fire. When he put back the tongs and reseated 
himself his cheeks were hot from the contact with 
its blazing warmth. 



"ducle IHoab's Christmas Inspiration 

"And that's what I told Uncle Edward in the 
letter, and, Colonel, he wrote me such a glorious let 
ter back that I had to show it to Daddy. He was 
delighted, and he said that any two men who fought 
over the battles of a dead war were ' old fools.' " 

Colonel Fairfax winced. 

" So," finished the girl with glowing eyes, 
" Uncle Edward came rushing North in a great 
state of excitement, and that's how I came to be 
down here over Christmas." 

In her impetuous criticism of the wartime quar 
rel that had separated the Verney twins for more 
than forty years, and the expression of her broad, 
impulsive patriotism, Colonel Fairfax had listened 
to certain truths which had long been subconsciously 
germinating in his own mind. Before he could re 
cover from the surprise of finding that he agreed 
with her, Ruth, touched by the lines of care graven 
upon his fine old face, had caught her breath with a 
little sob, slipped from her place by the fire, and 
was kneeling beside his chair, her eyes starry with 
light, her lovely face glorified with its tender 
appeal. 

" Colonel," she cried, a catch in her voice, " I'm 
going to marry Dick! It was he who praised Uncle 
Edward so." 



57 



TUncle moab'5 Cbrtatmae Ifnspfratiort 

The Colonel's face grew scarlet; then he laid a 
trembling hand upon the girl's bowed head. 

" Child," he said, " you you " Tears blinded 

his eyes and he stopped. 

In the silence that followed came the sharp sound 
of a quick footfall. The Colonel looked up. Dick 
Fairfax stood in the doorway, his eyes burning 
strangely in the white misery of his face. 

The father rose and straightened himself with 
something of his old, stern dignity ; but at a warm, 
girlish touch he gulped. 

" Dick," he said queerly, holding out a trembling 
hand, "we're we're both citizens of the United 
States, and it's Christmas Day." 

Almost before he had finished the boy had 
bounded across the floor and wrung the outstretched 
hand, his face radiant with delight. By the fire 
Ruth cried softly and the Colonel gently patted her 
dark head, his eyes full of tenderness. Then taking 
refuge from the sharp pain of his emotion in austere 
command : " Dick," he said sternly, " go to your 
mother." 

When Uncle Noah, in a state of beatification im 
possible, to describe, summoned the four to the won 
derful Christmas dinner Colonel Fairfax was eagerly 
listening to the tales of Dick's success as told by 

58 



IHncle floab'0 Christmas flnepfratton 

Ruth, and Dick was gently patting his mother's gray 
hair, a halo of silver crowning a face radiant with 
happiness a Christmas quartet whose reconcilia 
tion Uncle Noah could as yet but imperfectly com 
prehend. That he had been the unconscious instru 
ment of it all the gray-eyed lady had already told 
him ; but Uncle Noah, busy with numberless culinary 
problems in the kitchen, had not as yet had time 
to ferret it out. 

At four o'clock Major Verney, who had been re 
strained from dashing over to Brierwood hours 
before only by the necessity of soothing the ruffled 
feelings of his irate mother after her long wait for a 
belated sleigh on the porch of the Cotesville church, 
blustered in with the aggrieved old lady upon his 
arm. 

" We've come to supper," announced the Major. 
"No, Dick," as the Colonel rose, "sit down. I 
know all about it, and to-night you're all going back 
to Fernlands with me to celebrate the betrothal of 
these two youngsters." 

" It has been a day of mysteries," the Colonel 
said ; " but will someone please tell me what Uncle 
Noah was doing over at Fernlands this morning 
when he was needed here?" 

A silence fell over the little group. The subject 



59 



Glncle Woab's Cbrfstmas fnapfratton 

was one whose delicacy forbade the ghost of a 
blunder. 

It was the Major who at last drew his old friend 
into the deep window recess where but the night 
before he had watched Uncle Noah pursuing the 
elusive Job, and told him the story of the faithful 
old negro's Christmas Eve. 

The Colonel listened intently, the snowy land 
scape outside growing blurred and misty as the 
record of the old man's devotion gradually unfolded. 
Before the Major had finished the Colonel's hand 
had crept to the bell at his side, and, as the darky's 
shuffling footsteps echoed along the corridor, he 
turned again and stared with unseeing eyes at the 
outline of the old barn. Dick shifted the log and a 
crimson glow irradiated the old library, making a 
halo of soft fire about the figure of the old darky as 
he paused before his master. 

"Uncle Noah," said the Colonel brokenly, 

" I " but his voice failed him, and he wrung the 

old man's hand in silence. 

The Major bent and whispered a few swift words 
to the startled darky and a great light illumined the 
brown face. " Doan yoh go foh to thank me, Massa 
Dick," he crooned, patting the Colonel's hand with 
reverent devotion; "I ain't wuth it. All I needs, 



TRncle floab'0 Cbristmas Inspiration 

sah, is jus* a good kick for disobey in' orders. 
'Spects I doan understan' it all, but I does know, 
sah, dat de lady wid de gray eyes whut's at Major 
Verney's is is a good fairy, sah. An', Colonel, de 
Christmas supper am ready." 

Joyously they filed out, Dick lingering in the fire 
light for a word with Ruth. Grandmother Verney, 
in high good humor, went out on the Colonel's arm, 
the grievance of the morning's belated sleigh quite 
forgotten in the genial warmth of the Fairfax 
hospitality. 

" And what, Uncle Noah," asked the Colonel of 
the old darky as usual, " have we to-night for 
supper?" 

" Well, sah," beamed Uncle Noah, " we has ham 
an* turkey, an' cranberry sauce an' celery, an' baked 
apples an' mince pie an' fruitcake an' an' laws- 
a-massy, Massa, Ise too kerflusterated to ricomem- 
ber any mo'." 

"We'll have them all! " cried the Colonel. 

A terrific gobbling arose beneath the dining-room 
window, and the Major rose and stared out in as 
tonishment. " Merciful goodness, Dick," he de 
manded, " what is that horrible racket ? " 

" Laws-a-massy, Massa," cried the old darky, 
"it's Job! I let him out -a while back, sah, an' I 

61 



"Uncle TRcab'6 Gbrtetmas Unspiration 

done f ohgot to put him to roost. I reckon he's come 
to remind me." 

And, beaming happily at the radiant Christmas 
party, Uncle Noah flung up the window and in a 
terrible voice commanded the tyrant to be silent. 



THE END 



24 



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